There have been  a lot of conflicting statements and a fake photo designed to suggest that  that the Damadola strike was clumsy and ineffective in getting the target and that  anger in Pakistan and innocent victims were the principal result of the effort. But the fog is clearing. It appears that this was a well— conceived joint US—Pakistani intelligence operation which was very effective. A Pakistani official who is unnamed in the story gives us some detail: Ayman al—Zawahri, the apparent target of the U.S. attack Jan. 13, met his deputy, Abu Farraj al—Libbi, in Damadola last year, the security official said. Al—Libbi, a Libyan, had confessed to Pakistani interrogators after his capture in May 2005 he met al—Zawahri at Damadola, near the Afghan border, earlier in the year. Al—Libbi was captured after a shootout in another remote hamlet in northwestern Pakistan. Another high—ranking intelligence official confirmed...(Read Full Post)